Tuesday, November 10, 2009

I Love You, Beth Cooper Blu-ray Review

Disc Size: 40.1 GBFilm Size: 29.9 GBFilm Rating: PG-13Region: A

Video

The 1080p AVC/MPEG-4 video presentation featured on this release is very strong, like any new release should be. Detail is mostly fantastic, colors were rich and vibrant, and the overal look of the film had a lot of depth to it.

There is also a thin layer of grain present throughout the film, sometimes easier to spot than others. From beginning to end there were no technical issues with the transfer that I could see, everything seemed accurate and untouched.

While nothing seems to be wrong with the transfer, I also don't want readers thinking this is among the best demo material on the format. Clearly the video presentation is as good as it's going to get for Blu-ray and Fox provided a very healthy encode that will please anyone. It's definitely a very fine transfer, just short of the best. 9/10.

Audio

A 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is included and is much more lively than I had anticipated. The mix is well balanced and used nicely. Being a comedy, dialogue is of most importance as far as quality goes, and it's always clear and easy to understand.

The film's music and effects open up the surround area depending on the tone of the scene, it can be light and beautiful and then it can be loud and aggressive. The car sing-along in particular opens up the surround field to create an immersive and fitting experience.

Overall any fan of the film will be pleased with the audio mix on this release, it's certainly much better than I expected out of a teen comedy. 8/10.

I Love You, Beth Cooper is definitely a mixed bag. It's clearly a film aimed at teens with Hayden Panettiere as lead Beth Cooper. You can definitely tell they tried a bit too hard to 'sex' up the film and create a bit more appeal to teens.

There really isn't anything bad content wise about the film other than trying to be something it's not. If you are going for that approach you might as well make an R-rated film over pure tease.Mean Girls is a great example of a film that incorporated many sex jokes and humor but never felt like it was trying to be something else, it's PG-13 and still very enjoyable in comparison.

Beth Cooper is like a toned down Judd Apatow film for teenagers, you almost can compare it to a 100 calorie pack of Oreos versus the real deal, obviously the latter is preferred unless you are trying to watch what you eat (much like controlling the content that you watch). There's nothing wrong with it, but you aren't truly living.

If you are a teenager, chances are you will enjoy the film much more than any adult could. You can't take the film seriously, and I'm sure the film itself was never meant to be taken seriously. The movie is over the top and wacky, and most definitely mindless. That doesn't necessarily mean you will dislike it though, as it's always good to have some stupid fun once in a while. I also have to say the casting of Paul Rust was quite bad, there is no way you can believe him as a teenager in the film, particularly when viewed in high-definition.

Ultimately it's difficult to recommend the film when there's much better comedies similar to this on Blu-ray already. The first thing I thought when seeing the film was 'The Girl Next Door' which you can also get on Blu-ray from Fox Home Entertainment. As far as Beth Cooper goes, I recommend you 'Give It A Rent First' before adding this to your high-def collection. 5.5/10.